ST59-1B Little '59
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on february 08, 2010 2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Sound: I had this pickup installed in my 2007 MIM Tele in the bridge position with 500k pots and a coil tap. I use it with a Marshall JCM900 4100, a Boss DS-1 which I use a boost and a Jim Dunlop Crybaby. This pickup has a much higher output than the stock single coil but has been coil tapped so I can revert to a lower output.
This pickup has 'beefed up' my tele and sounds amazing, I play many different styles but mainly hard rock, classic rock and blues. This pickup captures these tones perfectly and can handle a large amount of distortion without sounding muddy. This pickup has reduced the twang and high end of my tele, which is something I hoped it would do and it now sounds more 'bassy' and thick.
The only area where this pickup lets itself down is on a clean setting, as it can be to harsh. This however is not a problem as I have a Seymour Duncan Vintage Rhythm Stack in the neck position and I only use clean tone on the neck position. // 8

Reliability & Durability: This pickup seems to be build like a tank and I can foresee it taking years of abuse and still being absolutely fine. I would definitely have no doubts about gigging with it without having a backup. // 10

Overall Impression: I'm completely satisfied with this pickup, it does everything I want it to, it's amazingly versatile when coil tapped and the quality of craftsmanship is very high. If my guitar was stolen I would definitely buy a telecaster again and put this pickup in bridge potion with a Vintage Rhythm Stack in the neck position.
This pickup is definitely an easy and effective way to beef up your tele and make it more suitable for the heavier rock genres as it just drops right into the bridge without any hassle. // 9

ST59-1B Little '59
Reviewed by:
Sir_Taffey, on november 13, 2014 1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Sound: When I first saw this pickup in the shop I went "Hmmm, a noiseless single coil space, Seymour Duncan, promises hot output, jazz and heavy rock for my rosewood fretboard? SIGN ME UP!"

This is in my band guitar which is in drop C playing metal and by Odin's Raven it plays well!

I run it in conjunction with my (now passive) Gus G Firewind pickups through a magic tube into my Boss ME-80 which leaves more magic tubes and goes into my Roxy MG120 and Roxy 4x12 cab. I have my funky wah sound, my CHORDS OF MIGHT echo and chorus/phaser, straight clean, ye olde valve-esque sound and straight stereo ultra gain.

Noisy? No. On what settings? My tone dial does nothing in between 10 and 0 (I need to call my luthier) and volume rolls down volume and some gain. It is my middle pickup and is middle in form and function in terms of sound. Directly between neck creamy and bridge crunchy. It could even be its own brand of cereal. Rich sound, not bright though, so it does lack articulation.

What sounds does it make? It is focused which I like. Too versatile takes away from the impact of the instrument. It does Jazz with some impact, pentatonics (country/blues?) sound pretty cool but the bands of the '70s, '80s and '90s better watch out for your effortlessly cool tone. In the spectrum of distorted guitars, make it do what you want it to do. This thing does it all well. It just isn't quite full enough for things like Lamb of God or Obscura for me. // 7

Reliability & Durability: This pickup is reliable and durable. The wires are soldered into place, the pickup is safe under the strings. But in all seriousness I have not noticed any inconsistencies with this pickups performance both live and in bedroom. It will continue to soldier on until somebody in the front row decides it looks thirsty and introduces it to their beer while headbanging.

The only thing I do have to complain about here is that the magnets are super strong. So my guitar being an HSH, I'm starting to worry that I am losing tone because the magnets are holding my strings back too much. This is more reliability that you are getting all the responsiveness you could ever want out of the pickup though so win-win for everybody. // 8

Overall Impression: For what I play, I would reckon this is a great match. My band has two moods in its songs, either prog or Underoath tribute band. Which may not be a bad thing but for the latter I wont stop using this because it sounds just so good at what it does!In my spare time I play on it almost exclusively for jamming.

I have been playing for 5 years now and besides aforementioned amp/effects I own an Ibanez RG370DXZL (the band guitar), a Cort X2-L and a Cort Source LH (go buy one of those NOW!) and I am in negotiations for a Ukulele.

If my guitar with this was stolen I would probably get a tele-style guitar and slap this in it in a heartbeat. What I love is everything above but it is not perfect as nothing ever is. It is too gritty and does not bend nicely when active with other pickups in my guitar. The articulation of notes isn't great and depending on your guitar type, you could be stuck with a one trick pony. // 7

ST59-1B Little '59
Reviewed by:
fryeguy5150, on november 27, 2014 0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 40

Purchased from: craigslist

Sound: I play mainly blues, rock, punk rock, hard rock, metal, and various forms of each. My Road Worn Tele sounded pretty good in the bridge position with the standard Tex Mex single coil but was a little shrill and not warm or beefy enough for my taste. The Little 59 has tamed the highs without actually eliminating them. It's certainly warmer and a LOT fuller sounding. The lows are full and round, but not overpowering like other alternative Tele pickups. The mids have a nice, clear punch. Together with the highs, the tone sits extremely well in the mix since it cuts but it never gets offensive. It's a very, very well balanced pickup that sounds like a humbucker that's not trying too hard to please any particular genre, if you catch my drift. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I've only owned the Little 59 for a few weeks but nothing about it leads me to believe it won't stand the test of time. After all, it's a Seymour and Seymours are built to last. It's very sturdy, well built, and made from high quality materials, as one would expect from a Duncan. It's a standard 4 wire conductor pickup with a ceramic bar magnet. It measures a 17k DC resistance, which rates up there with some of the hottest single coil pickups made for the Tele so it's HOT. Having said that, it's dead silent ... The polar opposite of the previous stock pickup.

On that note, I would highly recommend swapping out the neck pickup if it's anything less than 10k because of the vast difference between output levels. I have yet to do this & I can tell you with the pickup selector in the middle position, it sounds ... Well, weird.

It's very trebly and the output is extremely weak. Like I said, that's because it's a bad idea to pair up a 7.9k pickup with a 17k pickup ... When running the 2 together, the results are destined to be less than ideal. And not to mention switching from the bridge to the neck results in a very significant difference in volume. No worries though, it's something I'll rectify very soon with possibly a Quarter Pound Seymour ... We'll see though. // 10

Overall Impression: This pickup does EXACTLY what it advertises. I wanted a balanced, quiet, transparent, high output pickup that would handle high amounts of gain with grace, yet still maintain enough of that Tele twang and bite to satisfy me. To be honest, you do lose a bit of the Tele characteristics when heavily distorted and the volume knob maxed, but that's kind of the point. Typical Teles aren't really designed for heavier rock and metal. Luckily though, you can drop in this little beast to make your Tele much more versatile without turning it into another unrecognizable, muddy, dull, cheap, cookie-cutter "metal" guitar. It truly has its own unique character which sets it apart from all the other hotter Tele pickups I've heard. Highly recommend! // 10

This pickup is much more well fitted in the neck position. This pickup is great for the warm tones of blues and jazz.
If the objective is to beef up the sound of the tele, you should use a different kind of pickup in the bridge (something like a Seymour Duncan JB).

What you said makes no sense. The ST59-1B was designed as a bridge pickup only, they don't even make a neck version of it, so to say it's better suited as a neck pickup in a Tele is...I just don't get it. And, if you're playing a Tele and you drop this in the neck, why exactly are you playing a Tele then? I don't know what guitar you heard or played, assuming you have any first-hand experience with this pickup to begin with, but plugged straight into my Marshall this thing absolutely rips. Sounds as good, if not better, than most Gibsons I've ever played. It's actually quite a bit brighter than any standard humbucker I've ever played, which is the whole appeal of this pickup. If you were to do a little research on it you'd see it's designed to beef up a Tele, but at the same time, be just transparent enough to allow some of the natural Tele twang to shine thru, thus the fact that it's designed as a Tele bridge replacement pickup. So in order to get really "warm" blues or jazz tones from it, I have to either work the EQ on my amp or dial back the treble on my tone knob, which is common when you play any Tele to begin with. Your comment is very curious, to say the least.

My Road Worn Tele is 5 times more resonant than the average Les Paul. The TYPE and QUALITY of wood used in a guitar is MUCH more important than the QUANTITY of wood. That's common knowledge. I could play a tree trunk with strings on it but that doesn't make it more suitable for a hotter pickup. Also, how much does the bridge/saddle design have to do with sustain, tone, & resonance? A LOT! Your typical tune-o-matic bridge is garbage. It transfers almost no string vibration to the body of the guitar at all. A Tele with a string thru body design to saddles that actually all touch each other is the ideal setup in order to transfer string vibration to the body, & this is where the type and quality of wood comes into the equation, not the amount. Hate to keep pickin on you dude but you're obviously talkin out of your a$$ here with overused cliches.

My Road Worn Tele is 5 times more resonant than the average Les Paul. The TYPE and QUALITY of wood used in a guitar is MUCH more important than the QUANTITY of wood. That's common knowledge. I could play a tree trunk with strings on it but that doesn't make it more suitable for a hotter pickup. Also, how much does the bridge/saddle design have to do with sustain, tone, & resonance? A LOT! Your typical tune-o-matic bridge is garbage. It transfers almost no string vibration to the body of the guitar at all. A Tele with a string thru body design to saddles that actually all touch each other is the ideal setup in order to transfer string vibration to the body, & this is where the type and quality of wood comes into the equation, not the amount. Hate to keep pickin on you dude but you're obviously talkin out of your a$$ here with overused cliches.